


What Happens Next?

by viiixel



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: I hope I was able to get the right vibe throughout ahh, I love them so much, M/M, khsecretsanta16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9144280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viiixel/pseuds/viiixel
Summary: "What happens next?" They ask throughout their relationship as they attempt to figure out where they stand and who they are to be.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for #khsecretsanta16 for my recipient talos-of-atmora! Happy Holiday season, I hope you enjoy! Apologies for any errors!

     “So, what happens next?” Lea asked, stretching out on Isa’s bed as the blue haired boy on the floor beside him read the comic he got today. “Y’know, I never realized your laziness extended quite this far.” The sound of the pages turning and the knowledge that a smirk accompanied Isa’s words made Lea turn his head and sure enough, Lea could just barely see the corner of Isa’s mouth upturned. “Hey, you were the one talking as you read,” Lea huffed and flicked the back of Isa’s head which earned him a blind smack (landing dangerously close to his sensitive bits) from the other boy. “Fine, don’t tell me then!” Lea laid back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Maybe if he fell asleep soon enough then his snores would annoy the hell out of his best friend. He’d probably just get smacked again, in actuality. Lea sighed at the thought, which he saw Isa’s head turn slightly towards the noise. “…Anyways,” Isa murmured, “Venom and Peter are fighting again—“ Lea smiled to himself as he shut his eyes and listened to his steady voice describe the action packed scene. Without really meaning to, the lull of Isa’s voice and the meticulous nature the boy described the pages being a cause, Lea dozed off.

     Isa paused in his reading once the first soft snore filled the room. He turned and looked at Lea, his expression shifting into something slightly annoyed before smoothing back out. He was once again painfully reminded how much he was in love with the guy snoring away on his bed. The warmth that fills him when he looks at Lea had not diminished since he first realized this fact a year ago. It’s been years really, but it had only taken Lea pausing to carefully replant some flowers something dug up in his mother’s garden for Isa to be suddenly struck with the realization. It wasn’t even anything special that the other boy had been doing, except for the clumsy way Lea righted the flower and the afternoon light making his spattering of freckles across his face more pronounced. Those very same freckles taunted Isa now as he watched his friend sleep. Yet, despite being head over heels for him, he really could not handle the snoring that came out of the boy. Ever since Lea got his braces his snoring became worse, to the point where sometimes he woke himself up with the violence of it. While Isa did get a kick out of seeing Lea wake himself up through his snores, he wished that he could have a moment of quiet to let himself get lost in his thoughts about him.

      Of course, this would be one of those times Lea woke himself up, though Isa was sure that it might not have been the snore but rather the fact that Isa had been staring rather intently at him. Both Isa and Lea were startled by the snore that ripped from the redhead and Isa flushed ever so slightly when bright green eyes locked onto his. “Sorry, Isa,” Lea said with a yawn, the bright blue rubber bands around his brackets flashing. Isa idly noted they didn’t match him for the umpteenth time as Lea rolled onto his side, propping his head up on one arm. Isa shrugged, used to Lea falling asleep whenever he had the chance to lay his head down. Why he needed so much sleep was beyond him, but he supposed that the sleep that was often denied to him just went to Lea. “So, what happened?” Lea asked, rubbing one eye as he looked around for the comic. “I professed my undying love for you,” Isa deadpanned, deciding without trying thinking about it. Is this how it is for Lea who speaks before he can really think about his words? Of course, he could always pass it off as a joke, but –

      “Yeah.” Lea said it as a statement with the barest hint of a question, as if he was aware that Isa had mentally been doing so. Isa assumed Lea was so sure that Isa was joking that he did not feel the need to question it, so Isa answered the statement by sitting up and leaning in to press his lips swiftly to Lea’s. After a moment, Isa sat back down, looking at Lea with as impassive of a face as he could manage. He hadn’t thought. Well he did, he just tried not to think too hard. Isa has his own whims and he simply decided that he wanted Lea to know his feelings. It might not have been the best way to let him know, Lea seemed like the type to want fanfare, but for Isa this was as genuine as it got. Lea had been smiling, likely about to ask about the comic when Isa kissed him, but now he looked floored. After a moment of heavy silence, Isa cleared his throat and picked the comic back up, attempting to not think. “Anyways, you missed out on the actual fight between Peter and—“ “Wait, wait, wait!” Lea half launched himself off the bed and their second kiss included Lea’s braces meeting Isa’s lips.

____________________________

                “What happens next?” Lea asked Isa, his voice breaking as he clutched the coat covering the hollow cavity that used to house his heart. He was no longer certain how long they have been like this, the only indication of time passing was their own growth. Isa’s hair is longer now, as is Lea’s, but otherwise Lea could not be sure if time had stilled or if years had flown by them. His days were filled with an endless burning as a power he did not understand threatened to engulf him as he trained for the Organization. Isa looked at him, his eyes looking cloudy as though the color has been mixed somehow, and Lea sees that Isa has begun to bleed through the bandage covering his face again. Without answering him, Isa looked away and Lea understood that while Isa does not have an answer he will try to find one. That is always how it has been. Lea asks the questions, Isa answers them. Though, it has become clear that it was not the same anymore. Isa’s sliced face was proof that finding their answers come with a price. “Isa—“

     “It’s Saix,” Isa softly corrected him, momentary defeat etched into his posture as he conceded to the person he will need to become within the Organization. “Don’t call me Axel when we’re alone.” Lea said near immediately, attempting to meet eye to eye as the note of desperation in his voice echoed in the room, before moving to go find the first aid kit in his dresser. “… Likewise.” Isa replied after a moment, his eyes shutting as another throb of pain hit him. As carefully as he could manage, which was not as careful as if one of the scientists were to do it, Lea changed Isa’s bandage and cleaned the angry cut on his face. One of the scientists was supposed to stitch Isa up, but he had lost control and froze half of his workspace. Every day one of them lost control of the powers they received in exchange for their hearts, emphasizing the undercurrent of the chaos of the actions that led them here. Yet, Isa and the one who made them this way were the only ones that seem to have a handle on their powers. Or so he thought, Lea would find out later that the X slashed into Isa’s face came from him losing control from what he been trying to find out and not keeping his pseudo-emotions in check around the Superior. It was a mess, to understate the situation within the bleached castle. No one was sure what to do but instead allowed themselves to be guided by the man who showed control. As much as Lea and Isa wanted to fight back against him, against all of this, they could not do much when Lea was bursting into flames every other day and Isa had to try and kill off his memories of emotions.

     “There.” Lea said once he was finished, the fragile composure he had regained threatening to shatter at the pained expression on Isa’s face. Lea hadn’t realized how rare it had become to see something on Isa’s face anymore. “It’ll be fine,” Lea lied, carefully taking one of Isa’s hand in his as the other slowly opened his eyes to look at him. They were definitely not as vibrant as they used to be, Lea thought idly. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was lying about being fine. Isa’s face? Their situation? He knew Isa knew it was a lie, but at least he was trying. Not that it has amounted to much here, but that is all he could do. “Lea.” Lea squeezed Isa’s hand, understanding the weight that name carried now. The weight that they both desperately craved to stay grounded and were suffocating under.

_____

     There came a point where Lea and Isa faded away and Saix and Axel formed a new relationship based on the memories of the previous one. It turned out that time did pass at some sort of regular pace where they were, for they both grew into an unwelcomed adulthood. They stuck together because of the dusty memories shared between them, but as they got more threadbare with time those memories did not prove to be enough. “You’ve changed,” they both thought as Axel found a replacement for the long gone Isa in Roxas and Xion while Saix found that while he lost his emotions he could deftly manipulate others’, real or fake. Both were driven by the past, Axel into the friendship of the newest members and Saix into himself as he cut off anything that contradicts his memories of Lea and their goal in the Organization. Pretending to be Lea and Isa became harder as they unconsciously realized that those two boys did not exist. The occasional errant memory would brush them, Lea’s dusty freckles in the sunlight and the way Isa’s eyes shone when he looked at the night sky, leaving them aching for something that they could not fully grasp until they both lost themselves onto the paths created by the people they had become.

____________________________

    “What happens next?” They had both asked this once they had been reunited after the battle between the Lights and Darkness’. Lea wanted to know where their relationship stood while Isa simply wanted to know what comes with being a Somebody again. Neither question was easily answered. Lea still had nightmares and nights where he couldn’t sleep when he continuously relived his past actions. On the other hand, Isa mostly slept through the next six months of being a person again. Lea had arranged for a place for them to stay in Radiant Garden as it was slowly rebuilt around them. It fell onto Lea to make sure Isa was eating properly, while Isa occupied himself with studying the man who flitted in and out of the apartment. Both were uncertain how to really act around the other. While they were Lea and Isa, they could not reconnect to the boys they had been before being in the Organization. Their memories of their youth have become filled with holes from repeated visiting, so they can’t be sure of what truly happen or what has become rose colored and twisted in their clinging while Nobodies.

     At one point around the eighth month back in Radiant Gardens, they found themselves together in the apartment. Lea wasn’t out helping with the reconstruction or with the other wielders of Light and Isa was beginning to form regular patterns outside of his bedroom. They both blinked at each other and once Isa returned Lea’s hesitant smile they both could relax. Time and time again after that they found themselves together often. Isa turned out to be an immense help in the reconstruction, impressing those that had come from Traverse Town with his dedication to any task given to him. Debris was cleared, buildings rose, and the first sign of flowers began to show themselves. Life was returning to the Gardens.

     Lea came home to the apartment with a small potted plant to find Isa already there, writing in a small journal. “Hey,” the redhead greeted, setting the plant down gently on one of the counters. “Writing in your journal?” He continued, receiving a nod that served as both a greeting and an answer. After a few moments of kicking his shoes off and unwinding a bit, Lea paused in passing Isa to lightly rest his hand on his shoulder. They’ve shared small touches here and there, mostly by accident, but have not truly touched since after the battle when Lea grabbed Isa to himself and Isa clung to him for dear life. Just touching his shoulder sent a dull ache through Lea, warm need surprising him by making his limbs heavy so he wouldn’t remove his hand. Rather than test this fragile relationship they had, Lea opted to pull his hand away before any mistake could be made. Isa turned his head slightly to look at his shoulder, before looking up at Lea. A long moment passed before Isa deadpanned, “I hope your hand is clean, I just did laundry today.” Another long moment passed before Lea began to laugh, a full body laugh that threatened to become sobs until he reigned it in. “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I’m not gonna taint ya or anything.” He said once he calmed down enough, the barest shadow of a smirk playing on Isa’s lips. “It’d show the others,” Isa replied, turning back to his journal, “that you’re not as Light as you make yourself out to be.” “Pretty sure they already know that,” Lea quipped, continuing on his way to the small bathroom they shared to take a swift shower because well, he was covered in grime from clean up duty.

     Isa leaned his head back against the couch, looking at a spot on the wall as he listened to the sound of the shower starting, a muffled curse and clatter as he assumed Lea dropped something, and finally the sound of the shower turning off and the ringing silence that comes once white noise is suddenly gone. As Lea walked out, Isa’s eyes diverted down to the pages of his journal where he had been making more detailed notes of the patterns he had observed in the stars the night before. He hadn’t told Lea yet that he has been staying up to observe, the redhead had just barely began to sleep regularly and he wouldn’t want him thinking he couldn’t sleep now. Which, might be the case, Isa mused as he tapped his pencil against the page, but he supposed it was fine if he did something while he was awake. Lea walked out from his room from getting dressed and began to fuss with the plant he brought home again, his movements both tender and tense in a way that told Isa that even though he’s excited to have the plant Lea was just trying to find something to do with his hands. “Lea.” The man looked genuinely surprised to be addressed as he turned, before giving a smile that warmed Isa. His hair was tied back and deep red from being wet, which made Isa want to see if the color would bleed out if he were ring out the water. “You didn’t tell me how your day was, you normally do.” Isa continued evenly, despite the warmth filling him from the genuine joy on the man’s face as he moved towards the couch. He sat at the very end, opposite Isa, his body angled towards him as he took a moment to think back to the beginning of his day. “Well…” Lea started, recounting each detail with his typical flourish of hand gestures and expressions. Isa found that he enjoyed paying attention to what his hands were doing and each expression he made rather than the actual events he was talking about. It helped him to get to know the man on the couch with him and he found that he was someone he thought he’d enjoy watching talk for quite a while.

     “So, what happened next?” Isa asked once Lea paused, shifting ever so slightly closer, moving so that he was facing him full on while resting the side of his head against the couch. Lea took in the lessened distance between him and the grin on his face told Isa everything he needed to know about what he thought about it. “We found another patch of flowers, you should have seen Aerith’s face when we told her…” Yeah, Isa believed that he would never tire of discovering the man before him and what the future holds for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to hit me up on twitter: [@viiixel](https://twitter.com/viiixel)
> 
> Kudos and comments are very appreciated, especially if you read to the end and see this! Writing fanfic is often thankless at times so any support shown, especially comments, is very motivating. So please consider interacting with fanfic writers if you enjoy their work!


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